


Scheming with the Enemy

by kylomoon



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Christmas, Cliche as Hell, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fake Dating, Modern AU, in 6 chapters!!!!! so u know the writing is....Not Good, modern!kylo, pretend dating, this is actually Very Stupid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-16 18:39:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16959396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kylomoon/pseuds/kylomoon
Summary: Kylo has an odd request from you for his mom’s upcoming Christmas party.





	1. Chapter One

Kylo Ren had been your arch nemesis for as long as you could remember. You can still recall the events of the birthday party where you had invited all the kids from your neighborhood, including the petulant child in question. You may have only been five, but the memory still burned in your mind of the boy pulling at the tablecloth when it was time for you to blow out your candles, insisting that he blow them out too. Sensing the threat of a tantrum, your mom’s best friend and the boy’s mother, Leia, looked at you with pleading eyes and gently asked, “Is it okay if you two blow out the candles together?”

You can still feel your mother softly squeezing your shoulder before answering for you, “Of course he can!”

And so, every picture of your fifth birthday is marred by Kylo’s presence, with him sporting a smile so big you’d think it was his birthday, as you sat next to him, obviously sulking.

That was only the start of years of animosity between you two.

Tensions always seemed to run high when you two were around each other, especially when his classmate, Hux, came over to play. The two boys would team up against you, making you the monkey in monkey in the middle, and always forcing you to look for them in games of hide-and-seek. Luckily, other kids your age moved into the neighborhood over the years, and you were given the option to spend your playtime with Poe and Rey instead of Kylo. However, being close neighbors and family friends meant that you still saw him more often than not, dealing with his mean attitude and nonstop teasing throughout school until you both graduated and moved out. The shift to adulthood meant you went to different colleges, followed other career paths, and only had to be subjected to one another once a year: his family’s Christmas party.

The Solos had thrown a Christmas party every year inviting all the neighbors, new and old, for as long as you could remember. It became a part of your family tradition to return home in time to attend it, even if it meant having to see Kylo once a year. But that was a few weeks away, which left you confused as to why you were seeing him now, sporting a nervous expression as he stood at your doorstep.

“How’d you get my address?” you demanded.

“Good to see you too,” he bit back. You rolled your eyes and began to swing the door shut but he placed his hand on the door, pushing it open once again before continuing, “I was helping my mom address the envelopes to her Christmas party and—“

“And you came here to fulfill your destiny of earning a restraining order from me?”

He frowned in annoyance before placing his hand on your face and lightly pushing you back, inviting himself into your apartment.

You were at a loss for words as you watched him waltz into your place, still in disbelief that he was hanging around you for whatever reason.

“Can I help you?” you asked with the most venomous tone you could muster up.

“I just wanted to check up on you, and deliver your Christmas invite, since I was driving past here anyway.”

What a load of shit. You looked at him incredulously and by the way his eyes were darting about, you could tell he knew you weren’t buying his story.

“What—“

The words spilled out of his mouth before you even had a chance to finish your question: “Do you want to pretend to be together at this year’s Christmas party?”

You took in a deep inhale to calm your growing annoyance at the man before huffing out “Now why the hell—“

“Listen,”

“would I ever—“

“I promised my mom last Christmas that I wouldn’t be alone at this year’s party, and I just want to make her happy since this is going to be another Christmas without Dad,” he explained, looking somber.

That shut you up for a moment, allowing you to take in his downcast expression. You tried to calm your nerves before continuing in a gentle voice, “I need you to explain this to me better.”

He briefly spared you a glance before turning his gaze back to his fidgeting hands.

“She keeps fussing over me, thinking I’m going to end up alone, and that I’ve purposely ignored relationships to tend to her since Dad passed. I know if she sees me with someone it’ll make her happy, and less worried about me. I’ve tried and failed at relationships this year, but I don’t want to disappoint her. I can’t stand the look on her face when she thinks I’m lonely.”

You stood there, surprised at the explanation for his wild request, but you couldn’t help but feel for him. Han and Leia were crazy about one another, and his death came as a real blow to all who knew him.

“You’re doing it too!” he accused you.

“Doing what?” you shot back.

“That look! That look she gives me! With the watery looking eyes and the little pout,” Kylo groaned, rubbing his forehead in annoyance.

You sighed, “Whatever, dude. What I don’t get is: Why me?”

“Because, you have to admit you feel it too. Those looks everyone gives us each year we show up to the party alone. Like they pity you or something.”

“Okay, but they do that with all the young people, not just us. Plus, that doesn’t answer why you won’t ask someone else? You could ask a total stranger to do this for you. I’ve seen weirder craigslist ads than ‘be my fake girlfriend for a night’” you replied, unsatisfied with his answer.

“Because, you’d be the only single one at the party. Rey’s bringing her boyfriend, Finn, making you the only single girl.”

You were a bit surprised he even cared that you would look like the pathetic one of the bunch, but you ignored the possibility he was doing any of this to spare you of feeling humiliated. No, he probably just didn’t know any other women who were willing to do this and came to you as a last resort. In any case, you doubted you’d be the only single one of the bunch.

“How come you’re assuming I’m single?” you retorted.

Kylo let out a quick snort before reminding you that he’d been the one to help his mom with the Christmas party invites, “I clearly remember Mom emphasizing that you didn’t have a ‘plus one’ this year. Besides, you’ve been listening to me talk about this all along, and not once have you stopped me with that ‘I have a boyfriend’ declaration girls always make. So yeah, I’m betting you’ll be the only single one at the party.”

“Maybe I’d be the only single girl, but what about Poe?” you retorted.

Kylo grimaced at the mention of his name, scratching the back of his neck as if unsure of what to say.

“Well, that’s the thing…”

Your mind shot to the worst case scenario, “He’s not going to the party?”

“No, it’s just that he’s engaged.”

“Oh.”

Clearly, not attending the party was not the worst case scenario. It was this.

“I’m sorry,” he attempted to continue but you cut him short.

“Why are you apologizing? What’s it matter to me?” you tried to play off your disappointment but it wasn’t working.

“Listen, everyone and their mom can tell you have a thing for Dameron.” You glared at him before sighing deeply.

It was true. You had always had a sweet spot for the curly haired boy, and it was painfully obvious to everyone but him. He was part of the reason you even bothered showing up to the Christmas party each year. You look back at Kylo as he quiety whispers another apology to fill the silence that lingered between you two after the revelation of Poe’s relationship status.

“It’s whatever,” you say, trying to think of ways to change the subject, but that’s hard with Kylo. It’s not like you can suddenly start a casual conversation with someone you’ve considered your enemy for most of your life. Instead, you don’t even bother to act like you’re not curious about Poe’s fiancée.

“So who’s the lucky person?”

“Some guy he met at a coffee shop.”

“God, that’s so cliché” you respond, not bothering to hide the hint of irritation in your voice.

“Yeah, from what I heard, Dameron was reading inside and he locked eyes with the guy through the window.”

“That’s so sweet, I hate it,” you whined, as Kylo snickered in response.

How many coffee shop windows have you sat by looking pretty as a peach with a book in hand, pretending to read but secretly imagining that prince charming would burst through the door like a gust of wind, ready to declare his love for you at first sight?

“You still there, kid?”

You were drawn out of your reverie by the nightmare standing before you. Your brow furrowed in response to being called ‘kid’—a habit he hadn’t lost it seemed. It was obvious he sensed your irritation at the nickname based on the small smirk that dared to tug on the corner of his lips.

You huffed in annoyance before letting out a dry “Fine.”

“You mean we’re doing this?”

“Yeah whatever. What’s the plan?“

“Plan?”

“Well yeah, Ren, what did you think we’d do? Show up to the party holding hands without anyone questioning it? We have had over twenty years’ worth of bad vibes between us and people are going to want to know how it all turned around. We need a story.”

You watched as Kylo’s brow furrowed signaling that he was in deep thought. It gave you a moment to study him and notice all the changes he had undergone. Sure, you’d seen him at all those Christmas parties once a year but you’d never pay attention to him or spare him any conversation outside of the words “hi” and “bye.” Standing there in front of him, you realized how tall and broad he had gotten. He nearly dwarfed you in comparison. Your eyes were tracing along the width of his shoulders when he spoke up again, drawing you away from your assessment of him.

“You’re right. Do you have time to meet up soon?”

You nodded and exchanged contact information before deciding on a time and place to meet to hash out your plans in detail.

“Ok then, I’ll see you later, kid,” he said before turning towards the door. 

“Don’t call me kid!”

“You’re right, I suppose I should be calling you ‘baby’ now,” he said with a sly grin.

You groaned in annoyance, pushing him out your door before slamming it behind him. Kylo’s snickering could be heard from the other side which only made you rub your hands over your face, annoyed that it was heating up from his teasing.

You sighed to yourself in disbelief that you agreed to his ridiculous idea. It was a mess waiting to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there is one thing you should know, it's that I am absolutely aware of how out of character I've written Kylo.


	2. Chapter Two

When you next saw Kylo he was waiting for you at a trendy downtown café you wanted to try; it was the kind of place you had always secretly hoped to go to on a coffee date with a cute guy. You hated to admit that technically you were there with a cute guy, but it was far from a date. _Wait, cute?_ You watched as Kylo nibbled at his lip while studying the display case of cookies, deciding what he wanted for himself. His nose was a little too big for his face but his eyes were warm shade of brown and his lips were pretty enough for you to envy. His dark hair was also unbelievably soft, if you remembered correctly from all the times you’d pull it in the middle of your fights when you were kids. _Fine, he’s kind of cute in a weird way,_ you settled with yourself. 

It was too weird thinking about how you two were planning to be fake-dating for his mom’s Christmas party, but at least it meant you wouldn’t have to see everyone’s looks of pity, or deal with the well-meaning reassurances about how you were a great girl who’d find the right guy soon enough. It always annoyed you to no end that everyone made your single status seem like the end of the world. Except, considering how Poe would be flaunting his fiancée at this year’s function, it did sort of make you feel like you wanted the world to end. You always felt confident in yourself, but lately you couldn’t help feel kind of left out when you saw your friends in serious relationships.

“What do you want?” Kylo asked, interrupting your train of thought. You two had reached the front of the line at the café and it was your turn to order.

“Oh, can I get uh…” your voice trailed off as your eyes spotted the first generic thing you saw on the menu, “small coffee please.”

You started searching your bag for your wallet but Kylo beat you to it by handing the cashier his credit card. You struggled to protest his actions before he gently pushed you away from the line towards a vacant couch in front of the fireplace.

“Relax,” he insisted. “I’m asking you to pretend to like me for an evening so the least I can do is pay for your drink while we come up with how we’re going to con our friends and families.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, “Well, you’re not wrong.”

His face held a warm expression as he watched you settle into your seat. You tried to ignore how closely you two happened to be sitting together on the couch, but it couldn’t be helped that you were sharing the small space with a titan. The fire in front of you cast a warm glow about, making his gaze appear even softer . _For the love of god, will he stop staring?_ You were just about to call him out for it until you two were disrupted by a waitress with your drinks.

“I’ve got an order for Kyle?” she asked innocently.

You couldn’t stop the cackle that escaped your mouth, and the poor girl looked at you with obvious concern.

“Yep that’s me,” Kylo said, his lips setting in a straight line. He grabbed your drinks and tipped the waitress before she scurried off, taking wayward glances at you as you failed to hide your obnoxious laughter from Kylo.

He continued to glare at you until you finally pulled yourself together.

“It’s not that funny,” he stated flatly, “and I know that’s not the first time you’ve heard me called that.”

“I know, I know, it’s just been so long since I’ve heard that. It reminded me how for the longest time in kindergarten, Ms. Kanata had been misreading your name, and as a result taught you to spell your name like K-Y-L-E,” you reminded him.

He tried to keep a straight face but you noticed that his eyes had softened and that he was trying to prevent a small smile from playing on the corner of his lips.

“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled. “Sometimes I still accidentally sign my name as Kyle.”

You huffed in amusement before getting serious again.

“Okay, so how are we going to convince these people that we started seeing each other?” you asked.

“I came up with some ideas,” Kylo said, pausing until you urged him to continue. “One: I saw you getting mugged and swooped in to save you, and as a result you realized you’ve been in love with me all along.” Seeing the look on your face, he continued, “Okay, suggestion two: we locked eyes through the window of a coffee—“

“We can’t steal Poe’s story. Pass.”

“Three: you needed your TV fixed and I showed up to fix it, and when it came time to pay, you didn’t have any money so you paid me back by offering me your body—“

“We’re _not_ following the plot of some sleazy movie, you disgusting—” you stopped yourself from going on before exhaling in defeat. “You’re messing with me.”

“I’m messing with you,” he confirmed. “The truth is, we need to find what we have in common so our story could be believable.”

You hummed in agreement. “How about we each make lists of our favorite things, like movies, music, hobbies, etcetera, and we can swap lists to circle the stuff we know and like to help make a convincing story?”

Kylo looked a little unsure about your idea, but agreed since he couldn’t think of anything better. The two of you began writing out your lists on the back of the café’s napkins before swapping them to compare answers.

You gasped as you looked at the top of what Kylo had listed under his favorite music.

“What? What’s wrong?” he questioned you.

“You listen to Order 66?” failing to mask your excitement.

“Yeah, they’re like my favorite band, I actually saw them this past September,” he responded.

“At that venue on 6th Street?” you asked.

“That’s the one. Why?”

“Kylo, I was _there_ ,” you said with an expectant look on your face.

“Oh…”

You glared at him as the gears turned in his head.

“Oh! We can say we ran into each other there!” Kylo finally got to the conclusion you were alluding to.

The two of you spent the rest of the afternoon figuring out the details of how you “met”—the story would ultimately be that you ran into each other at a show, went out for drinks after, and decided you didn’t hate each other anymore. Or at least it would be something along those lines.

When it was time to leave, the two of you stood in front of the café looking a bit reluctant to part ways. You were just about to initiate your final goodbyes until your stomach decided to pipe up on your behalf with an embarrassing growl. The traitorous organ wanted you to look like a fool in front of Kylo, who you assumed was still looking for reasons to make fun of you, but to your surprise the jokes never came. He smiled at you warmly before gently tugging on your sleeve and motioning down the street with his head.

“Come on, let’s go,” he insisted.

“I parked the other way,” you started but became tongue tied when you felt a warm hand engulf yours, pulling you in the opposite direction of your car.

“I’m feeding you, genius.”

“No, you don’t have to! Oh my god, my stomach is just being dramatic,” you tried to argue but to no avail.

“It’s fine, I’m hungry too, and this will give us a chance to improve our chemistry. We can get to know each other better, maybe talk about our favorite Order 66 albums.” Kylo looked back at you and assured you, “Look, I don’t want to hang around each other at the party and make it seem like we have a script memorized with each other. I want us to come off as natural as possible, okay? So let’s go bond over some carbs.”

“I guess? But you have to let me pay,” you insisted.

“Now, what kind of guy would I be if I made my girl pay for our first date, kid?”

“Hey!” you exclaimed, focusing on your outrage at the annoying nickname instead of the fact that Kylo was holding your hand and referring to you as his girl.

“I’m sorry, I meant _baby_ ,” he teased, this time leaning in close to you and emphasizing his new nickname for you. Kylo watched as you feigned annoyance at him before he tugged you into a restaurant.

The rest of dinner went surprisingly well, and you couldn’t believe that Kylo had been nice to you the whole time. At times you found yourself wondering if he liked you for real, but quickly dismissed those thoughts. He even said that he was only trying to improve your chemistry for the party; if he were to act then anyway like how he was acting now then he would definitely fool everyone into thinking you two were a real item. You also assumed he wasn’t being the unbearable Kylo you knew growing up since he needed you; after all, this was just to convince his mom he was in a relationship, so surely he’d be able to refrain from insulting you for her sake, right?

Right.

You lied awake that night, reminding yourself that every interaction between you and Kylo Ren was an act, and that the events that occurred throughout the day had been a rehearsal for the upcoming Christmas party. That was when the real show would begin.


	3. Chapter Three

After that first night you went out with Kylo you two had maintained contact by texting each other nearly every day. It started off with you thanking him for dinner but the conversation kept going, turning into something more playful, with the two of you occasionally swapping memes and quips. You reminisced on your shared childhood, recalling the times you drove each other crazy, realizing it all seemed so funny in hindsight.

Sometimes the conversation steered towards more serious topics; one evening in particular he texted you about running into his dad’s old friend, Lando. You could tell that he was struggling to convey the way he felt about the whole situation through texts, so you called him. His voice sounded shaky on the other end of the line as you listened to him talk about how seeing Lando stirred up feelings about his father’s death that he had been struggling to lock away. You stayed up extra late that night trying to soothe Kylo over the phone, a small part of you pleased that he turned to you for comfort.

Apart from the texts, you two managed to keep in touch by hanging out a couple more times in the weeks before the party. Although secretly elated at the chance to spend more time with him, you couldn’t help but express your confusion as to why he insisted on going out and taking pictures together. “A convincing lie is one that’s close enough to the truth. It’s easier to fake a relationship if our memories together are real,” he explained. He knew so much about lying, it made you wonder if the kindness and warmth with which he treated you was also one big, convincing lie.

Christmas Eve eventually rolled around, which meant it was show time. The party was in about an hour and Kylo had come to pick you up, helping himself into your apartment as you got ready in your room. He took in the sight of your home, the framed pictures laying about catching his eye. He was able to easily identify the photos from your youth, considering he, Poe and Rey were in almost every single one; it made him realize how much time he spent with you growing up despite the animosity. He laughed aloud at a picture of the two of you as little kids, posing in front of a giant birthday cake with five little candles sticking out the top. In the picture Kylo had a giant, shit-eating grin while your arms were crossed, glaring at the little boy. Kylo heard the sound of your bedroom door open, and was about to call you over to look at the picture, but the words caught in his throat at the sight of you.

You stepped out of your room to see Kylo standing there in his all black attire, the only hint of Christmas spirit evident in the crimson colored socks peeking out around his ankles. It felt uncomfortable to have him wordlessly stare at you, so you broke the silence.

“Can’t think of any good insults?” you probed.

That snapped him out of his trance. His brow furrowed, signaling his confusion.

“Why would I do that?”

You felt nervous and a little insecure about having to bring out one of your bitterest high school memories. “Sorry, this all just felt a little too similar to that one dance we all went to in high school. Rey and I thought we looked so hot that night,” you laughed a little, trying to ease the tension of having Kylo looking at you so intensely, “but you made sure to remind me how untrue that was.”

Kylo’s face twisted into a deep frown. “Well, I was clearly stupid. And I’m sorry for that and all the other times I treated you like that when we were younger.”  

You exhaled deeply, releasing a breath you didn’t even know you were holding. “You’ll have to excuse me if I look so surprised, it’s just that I’m not used to you being so nice to me,” you explained.

“I keep hearing that from everyone,” he chuckled. “I started to drop the attitude after high school. It took me a while, but I realized being a jerk wasn’t going to help me make friends in a university where I didn’t know anyone. I’ve been trying to be a better person since then.”

You responded before you could stop yourself, “I never noticed.”

“You never really spared me more than a moment of your time after we both moved out of the neighborhood,” he sighed, “and I don’t blame you for that.”

A beat passed before you piped up again. “Well then, what was with the staring just now?”

“Nothing… I’m just surprised you dressed up so nicely this year,” he mumbled, cheeks visibly reddening.

“Well, yeah, I have to if I’m your girlfriend. It wouldn’t be as believable that you’d be into me if I didn’t look so nice,” you reasoned.

“That’s not true,” he replied, immediately.

The sincerity in his eyes ruined you. An ever-growing part of you wished this were all real, that he was really your boyfriend coming to pick you up, whisking you away to an evening of merriment with your friends and family.

But it wasn’t real.

“You ready, kid?” You snapped out of your thoughts to see Kylo holding the door open for you to exit your apartment. He didn’t miss the gloomy expression on your face as you quietly nodded, not even acknowledging his use of the loathsome nickname.

The car ride to his mom’s house was silent, the cheery Christmas music playing on the radio feeling out of place considering the awkward atmosphere. You were so caught up in your thoughts that you didn’t even realize Kylo had parked his car in front of his childhood home. You stepped out of the car, taking note of the lights strung around the house.

“The lights look a little different this year,” you remarked in hopes of settling into a more lighthearted conversation after the quiet car ride.

Kylo’s expression was unreadable when he said, “I put up the Christmas lights this year and the last.”

Of course. That used to be Han’s responsibility. You mentally cursed yourself for managing to remind the man of his deceased father in your attempt at light conversation. It was frustrating to have the night start off on such a bleak note considering all the effort you two had put into your “relationship” these past few weeks, especially when the whole point of this charade was to bring a little joy to Leia at this year’s party.

Your thoughts came to a halt at the feeling of Kylo’s warm hand engulfing yours, the feeling of his fingers intertwining with yours bringing you some relief as he led you up the walkway to the porch. He hardly got a chance to knock before the door swung open, revealing a very pleased looking Leia.

“Hi, mom,” he greeted.

You didn’t miss the way her eyes took note of your hands clasped together before she responded with a knowing smile playing on the corner of her lips, “Hey, you two.”

 _Shit. She knows this isn’t real. Does she know?_ Leia always had a way of making you feel like she had some sort of superpower, like an incredibly strong intuition. What made you think you two could possibly get away with this?

Kylo squeezed your hand, bringing you back to reality. “Merry Christmas!” you stammered out, mentally face-palming.

Leia moved out of the way to welcome you two in, and Kylo took the opportunity to send a knowing smirk your way. “Smooth,” he mouthed at you, earning a sneer from you in return.

You hung your coat after Kylo before taking your place by his side at the center of the foyer. It took a lot of self-control to abstain from physically reacting to the sensation of his warm hand gently placing itself on your lower back. You were too busy trying not to over-analyze why the action brought you comfort to notice Leia had been talking the whole time.

“…and I don’t know why you didn’t just tell me that you two were seeing each other sooner,” she finished.

“Well, we figured it’d be a nice surprise for everyone, Mom. Plus, we didn’t have the best track record before this, so who would’ve known if we’d still be together by now,” Kylo explained, absentmindedly rubbing his hand up and down your lower back.

You didn’t trust yourself to form any proper sentences with the way Leia looked at you so you simply nodded with what you hoped was a convincing smile plastered on your face. She narrowed her eyes at you with that same knowing smirk from before, and pointedly glanced at the ceiling above your heads before turning her attention back to the two of you.

You tilted your head up before regretting the action immediately. “This is  _so_  cliché,” you grumbled. Kylo looked up to see what had caught your eye.

There, hanging directly above your heads, happened to be a sprig of mistletoe.


	4. Chapter Four

“Really, mom? Mistletoe?” Kylo argued. You watched his face turn red as he fumbled over his words looking for an excuse. “This archaic practice is an invasion of privacy, mother.”

Leia stood straight, hands clasped behind her back, looking as serious as a war general. Her expectant gaze flickered from you to Kylo, and you realized:  _this was a challenge._

The whole scene made your relationship look less and less convincing the more you tried to avoid the kiss, so you made an executive decision, reasoning with yourself that you had to do this for the sake of yours and Kylo’s plan.

You had to kiss him.

Clutching onto his sweater, you were about to press forward when the sound of approaching footsteps reached your ears before stopping.

“I think these two would rather die than kiss each other anyway,” interrupted a familiar voice.

The three of you turned towards the direction from which the voice came to find Poe standing in the doorway of the kitchen with a man you had never seen before. A very beautiful man, might you add.

“Poe!” you cheered. You weren’t sure whether it was all in your head, but you could have sworn Kylo was reluctant to release his grip around your waist when Poe rushed forward to embrace you. Kylo shifted from foot-to-foot waiting for your hug to end before holding out a hand for Poe to shake, but found himself pulled into a hug anyway.

“Leo, dear, come meet some of Poe’s childhood friends,” Leia said to the aforementioned beautiful man, ushering him over to join you all. Leo introduced himself as Poe’s fiancé and Kylo introduced the two of you, mentioning that you were his girlfriend; a small part of you hated that your insides felt warm at the title.

“Woah, what?” Poe blurted out, his widened eyes shifting back and forth between you and Kylo. “Is that true?”

Kylo tucked you under his arm, nodding with a smug expression painted on his face.

“Is there something I’m missing here?” Leo piped up, confused at Poe’s disbelief of the situation.

Poe placed a hand on his fiance’s arm, gesturing to you and Kylo with the other as he explained to him, “These two were always at war when we were growing up.”

“Yeah, well now they’re standing under a mistletoe, so Poe, if you’d  _please_ ,” Leia urged.

“Aw, you’re right! Come on, Mrs. O” Poe said, grabbing Leia by the arm, “let’s give these two some privacy.” He winked at Kylo as he and Leo led Leia back into the kitchen against her will.

Leia looked like she was struggling to choose between glaring daggers into Poe’s head or to look back at you and Kylo to see if you’d really kiss.

The ruckus died down as they left, leaving you and Kylo standing in the silent foyer. A small part of you was aware that you two were still standing under the mistletoe, and you briefly considered mustering up the courage to kiss him anyway. However, a more logical side of your brain resolved to get your mind off the topic of kissing Kylo by bringing up the next thing you could think of.

“Good for Poe, huh?” you started.

“Yeah. You doing okay?” Kylo asked, concern evident in his voice. “You’re not too upset about seeing Dameron with someone else?”

It hit you in that moment that you hadn’t thought about Poe at all lately. Seeing him with his fiancé made you happy for him, and you didn’t feel bitter like you had weeks ago. A voice in your head supplied that Kylo was the reason you hadn’t been consumed by thoughts of Poe, but you immediately dismissed that thought.

 “I’m not upset at all,” you spoke truthfully.

“Oh.”

“In fact, I kind of forgot about Poe.”

You didn’t miss the pleased expression on Kylo’s face in response to your confession.

A beat passed between you two.

“So, Leo is possibly the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen,” you started.

“I know,” Kylo agreed. “Can you imagine what it’ll be like for their kids? I had a hard time in school being known as the kid with a hot dad. Can you imagine having  _two_  hot dads?”

You two shared a laugh, easing the tension in the air. “Come on,” you said, gently pulling him by his fingers towards the kitchen. “Let’s go help out those future hot dads with your mom.”

More guests started to show up to the party within the next hour, including your parents, who were beyond shocked at the revelation you were with Kylo, let alone dating anyone at all. You couldn’t hide the annoyed expression at how dramatic they were being about you not being single for once. Kylo kept snickering the worse it got, occasionally squeezing your shoulders in reassurance.

Rey tackled you into a hug when she showed up, the two of your running your mouths a mile a minute, while her boyfriend, Finn, stood off to the side gazing lovingly at his excited girlfriend. Introductions were made, and you didn’t miss the sharp look Rey sent you upon learning about your “relationship” with Kylo.

The night went well as you caught up with all your old friends and neighbors, occasionally locking eyes with Kylo across the room whenever you two weren’t together. You were glad you and Kylo had hung out so much in the weeks leading up to the party; you were able to talk about some of the places the two of you had been to, even showing your mom a picture of you and Kylo on one of your “dates.” Everyone seemed extra cheerful this year, especially your friends who had brought their loved ones. It warmed your heart to see them so happy with their significant others, but you had a hard time feeling genuinely happy yourself.

You excused yourself at one point to go somewhere away from the party, your feet leading you to the first room you could find, which happened to be Kylo’s old bedroom. As soon as you shut the door behind you, you felt your breathing get heavy as the tears welled up behind your eyes. It hurt to know that all the happy couples outside were in genuine relationships, and that your happiness was all a front for a fake one. What you hated the most was how thrilled everyone seemed to be with your coupling, especially Leia and your parents; even Rey came around to it when she saw how you and Kylo were with one another. But you knew it wouldn’t last.

Why didn’t it occur to you that fake dating also included breaking up? You didn’t think you’d feel so strongly about Kylo, or that your families would become so hopeful at the news that you two were seeing one another. Breaking up would mean hurting them, but it would also meaning crushing you.

Realizing you had disappeared from the party for too long, you wiped your tears and checked your appearance in the mirror for any signs of crying. You calmed your breathing and decided to distract yourself by taking a look around Kylo’s room, a place you hadn’t been in since your last forced play date back when you two were still kids.

His room had changed a lot since then. The lego sets and spaceship sheets were long gone; the room’s space now filled by the posters on the wall, shelves full of CDs, and an old bed with a minimalist black comforter draped across. On his dresser were two framed pictures: one of him with his mom and dad at his Uncle Luke’s cabin, and the other of two toddlers. You recognized the kid with big ears peeking out from under a mop of black hair as Kylo, but the other kid was harder to identify since their face was pressed directly into a cake.

“This is  _such_  a good picture of you.”

You jumped at the sound of another voice in the room, whipping around to see Kylo standing behind you.

“I didn’t hear you c—wait, what?”

“That’s us, genius.”

Your eyes darted back to the picture in question, suddenly recognizing your hair, and your mom somewhere in the background of the picture.  _Shit_.

“I like to think of this as the start of all of our problems,” he mused.

“No way, you ruined my fifth birthday. That was when _this,_ ” you gestured back and forth between you and Kylo with your hands, “started going south.”

Kylo scoffed before picking up the picture, and pointing at it. “That’s the same table we have in our dining room so it’s clearly a picture of  _my_ birthday. And look at how young we are here, obviously younger than five; I’d count the candles on the cake for you, but as you can see, a certain princess has her  _face_  buried in it.”

You bit your lip trying fight the laughter bubbling up in your chest.

“Now that that’s settled,” he continued, “can you please join us at the party? I am feeling very insecure standing alone with a bunch of guys as good looking as Finn, Poe and Leo. We look like an awkward boyband trying to appeal to four different music genres at once.”

You exploded into a fit of laughter, and let him lead you out of the room to rejoin the festivities, the emotional breakdown you had moments ago forgotten for a while.

Everyone returned to their homes when the night came to a close, including your parents who still lived at your old house down the street. You stayed back to help Kylo and Leia clean up before heading out yourself. Leia bid you goodnight as you stepped outside to make the short walk to your parents’ house. You were still in the walkway when Kylo ran up behind you, announcing “and the Oscar goes to,” before wrapping his arms around you from behind and spinning in a circle. You tried to hush him in between your laughter, and kicked your legs in the air until he set you back down.

“Seriously, I think we both deserve awards for our acting chops tonight. They really ate it up, don’t you think?”

Your smile dropped the slightest upon hearing his question, turning tight lipped as you gave a small nod.

Kylo was too busy celebrating the successful night to notice the dark cloud hanging over your head as he walked you home. When you reached your front door you tried to quickly escape inside, but were abruptly pulled back against Kylo’s chest as he squeezed you into a tight embrace.

“Thanks for all this, kid. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

You mustered up a small smile before noncommittally waving goodbye, noting the expectant look on his face morph into a mixture of disappointment and confusion.

“Are you just gonna let me call you kid like that? Too tired to glare?”

“Goodnight, Kylo.”

“Goodnight, baby.”

You shut the door, pressing your forehead against the frame, upset with yourself for still feeling thrilled at the sound of his pet name for you. Your mind flitted back to the same thoughts you had when you were alone in Kylo’s room, only this time made worse by hearing Kylo reduce your genuine feelings for him as great acting on your part. Tomorrow, Kylo and his mother would join your family for dinner, and the thought of having to continue with this charade at your own expense made your heart sink.


	5. Chapter Five

Warm hands gently stroked your face, urging you to wake up in the sweetest manner; it really felt good to be back in your old home with loving parents to wake you up in the morning.

“Merry Christmas,” you murmured with closed lids, eyes not quite ready to greet the day.

“These reindeer-print pajamas are really sexy.”

Your eyes shot open at the sound of the unexpectedly husky voice. In your sleepy state of mind you nearly reached for the lamp beside your bed to defend yourself from an intruder before realizing it was just Kylo. A part of you wanted to reach for the lamp and smack him with it anyway, but you were hung up over the way his voice sounded this early in the morning.

“What are you doing here?”

“What’s wrong? Mom and dad won’t let you have a  _boy_  in your room?” he snickered. “Your mom invited us for breakfast.”

Great. Your Christmas was going to start and end with Kylo. You sat up in bed, rubbing your hands down your face, reminding you of the sensation that woke you up in the first place.

“Were you touching my face just now?” you inquired.

Kylo smirked as he gently stroked your temple with the backs of his fingers. “Perhaps.”

You swat his hand away, not in the mood for his games first thing in the morning, especially since you may or may not have cried yourself to sleep over your feelings for him the night before.

“Hurry up and come downstairs before your parents think we’re fooling around.”

Upon hearing his words you sprung out of bed and forcibly pushed him out of your room, convincing yourself that the heat rising in your cheeks was due to the strength you had to exert to successfully move him, rather than because of what he had said.

You freshened up in the bathroom before going down to join Leia, Kylo, and your parents for breakfast. The smell of pancakes and coffee was enticing, but your face dropped when you reached the kitchen table. There was only one vacant seat available, and it was next to Kylo.

“Come sit down,  _baby_ ,” he teased, rubbing the seat of the empty chair next to him with an obnoxious smirk on his face.

You threw a venomous glare his way before reluctantly sliding into the seat next to him. Your mother graciously handed you a plate, and you were about to thank her when you yelped in surprise at the feeling of something squeezing your thigh. You looked down to see Kylo’s left hand ever so subtly resting on your leg as the right shoveled food into his mouth.

“Are you alright?” you father asked, his forehead creasing in concern.

“Yeah, just… haven’t had a breakfast as good as this in a while now. Got a little too excited is all,” you tried to play off.

Kylo snorted at your weak cover up, nearly choking on his pancake in the process. You glared daggers at him as he tried to hide his smirk under the guise of wiping his lips.

The rest of breakfast was marred by Kylo’s attempts to appear like a loving boyfriend. You’d pull your hand away every time he’d try to gently grasp it or shrug off his attempts at getting closer to you. His brow furrowed every time you gave him clipped responses and you didn’t miss the pained look in his eye when you didn’t return the hug he had given you when it was time for him to return home with Leia.

Once Kylo was out of the picture, you were able to focus on devoting your afternoon to your parents and your family’s Christmas traditions, before preparing dinner together. It felt good to get your mind off Kylo for a few hours and just have some fun, finally laughing for the first time all day as you and your parents busily scurried about the kitchen in preparation for the night’s dinner.

You were upstairs getting ready when the sound of the doorbell rang, signaling Leia and Kylo’s arrival. After taking a few breaths to calm your nerves, you stepped out of your room to make your way down. You froze at the top of the stairs when you spotted Kylo standing at the base with his hands seemingly clasped behind his back. His somber eyes locked onto yours, gaze almost looking timid as you descended down the staircase.

“You look good,” he supplied, looking like he wanted to say more but refraining from doing so.

“Thanks.”

Seeing as he had nothing left to say you turned to greet Leia, but Kylo’s hand wrapped around your wrist to pull you back to him.

“Can we go for a walk?” he asked, looking very unsure of himself.

You wanted to say no but decided to pull on your coat anyway and indulge him for a few minutes.

Once outside, you and Kylo walked in silence for about a minute or two before he slowed down to a stop, forcing you to do the same. He turned to you expectantly, and you scrutinized him for a moment before you realized his hands were still behind his back.

He cleared his throat before starting. “Hey so uh, thanks for everything these past few weeks. I figured I’d get you something.” He pulled out a gift bag from behind his back and handed it to you. “It’s not much, but when I saw it I wanted you to have it.”

You reached inside the bag and pulled out something large and knitted.  _Was it a sweater? A blanket? Did this idiot seriously gift a blanket?_

“Here.” Kylo fumbled with the thing, helping you unravel it before placing one end on your shoulder and wrapping it around your neck until your face was nearly lost in a bundle of wool. He huffed out a little laugh upon noticing the knit material nearly swallowed your face and in turn brushed his fingers against your face to push the scarf away.  _A scarf. That’s what it was._  You were a little unsure about the gift at first but it was certainly cozy, and the material rubbing up against your face indicated its high quality.

Kylo stepped back and observed his work. “It looks cute on you,” he resolved.

You thanked him in response, but it got muffled by the scarf wrapped around your neck.

“Like I said, it’s not much, but I just wanted you to have it as a token of my appreciation for pretending to like me,” he explained.

You’d had enough.

“So what comes next?” you shot back. “Breaking up? Hurting everyone in the process?” You weren’t sure why your temper flared up at this exact moment. Maybe because his latest act demonstrated the exact problem you had been dealing with since the beginning of your little scheme; he’d always get so close to making your relationship feel like the real thing before suddenly pulling back and reminding you that it was all a hoax.

Kylo’s brow furrowed in confusion at your sudden outburst. “I—“

You cut him off before he could continue. “How long am I supposed to keep lying about this?”

“I thought we were in this together,” he responded in a voice much smaller than you had ever expected to come from such a giant man.

“Well, Kylo, I’m tired of being ‘together’ with you.”

He swallowed thickly before hanging his head from his shoulders to study the ground. “Do you want to do the break up right now? I mean, I thought we’d plan that out too, but if you want to make it sooner…”

“No,” you eagerly shot back, “I’m just…I can’t do this.”

“I’m not following, did I do something wrong?” he asked, his facial expression laced with genuine concern.

“Yes!” you cried out, not able to deal with the anguish any longer. The prickling behind your eyelids signaled the tears that were ready to flow down your face.

At the sight of your eyes welling up, Kylo put his hands on either side of your face, panic evident in his eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong? Tell me what I did so I can fix it.”

His hushed voice, the expression of concern, and the delicate way with which he was cradling your face only made you feel worse. You pulled away from him, burying your face in your hands. “You did this,” you sobbed.

Kylo looked at you, arms helplessly falling limp at his sides.

“You show up one day at my door, asking me to pretend to be with you, and then you go out of your way to make it all feel so fucking real and I hate it. And I hate myself for getting so caught up in all of this like an idiot. For believing our own lies. For catching feelings for the same Kylo Ren who put me through hell when I was younger. And I hate,” you huffed out, caving in on yourself, “I  _hate_ , that all of this being fake makes me feel miserable.”

Kylo wordlessly stared at you, unmoving, save for the fingers twitching at his sides.

You waited for him to walk away in response to your outburst, but that never came.

Instead, he stepped forward to close the gap between you, gently grasping your face in his hands before pressing his warm lips against yours. You froze at first, not expecting the action from him, but almost immediately melted into it soon after. He tilted your head back to deepen the kiss, dropping his hands down to your waist to press your further against him. You willed your arms to move to rest your hands on his chest, feeling his heartbeat thrum against your fingers. Kylo pulled away, his half-lidded gaze studying your face before landing on your lips; you felt him huff out a sigh as if in defeat before giving in and pressing another soft kiss to your lips.

He slowly pulled back, resting his forehead against yours. “Then let’s make this real.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol i hate reading my own writing it feels embarrassing


	6. Final

_Then let’s make this real._

His words echoed in your head as you stared at him in disbelief.

Sensing your confusion, Kylo continued. “Maybe I haven’t been pretending,” he confessed. “Maybe I really want to be with you.”

“Really? Well it’s been hard to tell with the way you keep reminding me how this is all an act.”

Kylo winced at your accusatory tone. “I was afraid.”

“Of what?”

He sighed in defeat. “That I’d like you too much. That this was all one-sided. So I kept mentioning it to remind myself more than anything.”

It was your turn to sigh. Gripping the front of his coat, you pulled him closer and pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of his lips. “Let’s go inside.”

Upon stepping into the warm home you were greeted by a chorus of voices asking where the two of you ran off to.

“We just went for a little walk is all,” you explained.

The mood was genuinely bright over dinner; this time you gladly sat by Kylo, inching your chair closer to him and gently grasping his hand under the table in reassurance. A warm smile graced his features as he rubbed his thumb over your knuckles.

Leia had apparently forgotten the dessert she had prepared back home, so Kylo volunteered to fetch it, pulling you along with him. Once at his house, you led the way into the kitchen seeing the cake Leia prepared sitting on the counter. You were about to reach for it, only to be abruptly pulled back against Kylo’s chest. His arms wrapped around your midsection as he rested his chin in the crook of your neck.

“Just so we’re clear, we’re not pretending anymore, right?” he murmured, the deep timber of his voice making you shudder against him.

You timidly nodded, not trusting your voice to give a steady answer with the way his hands were rubbing up and down your sides.

“Good.”

He pressed a sweet kiss against your neck before whipping you around to capture your lips with his own. You indulged him for a while before reluctantly pulling away. “We have to get dessert,” you reminded him.

“What do you think I’m doing?” he responded, a lazy smirk playing on his lips before pressing another kiss against yours.

“Who is this cheesy man?” you scoffed as you turned to grab the cake from the counter.

“Your boyfriend, apparently.”

Your heart soared at his words, remembering the way it felt to introduce yourselves as a couple the night before, only this time the feeling was intensified by the fact that it was true.

The rest of the night was spent with your families sitting by the fire, enjoying each other’s company and exchanging your favorite memories. The funnier ones were of the things you and Kylo did to drive each other crazy. Your mother recounted the time Kylo had taught you how to swim when you two were still quite young.

Apparently by “taught” she meant that one day he had forcibly removed the inflatable arm bands keeping you afloat in the pool, resulting in you thrashing about the water, crying that you were going to drown, only to stop and realize you had been floating perfectly fine without them. Everyone but you erupted into laughter at the memory, but you just glared at your mom.

“So you’re telling me you just sat back and watched the little demon risk my life like that?” you asked, clearly not amused by the memory. “I could’ve drowned!”

“Kylo wouldn’t have let that happen, sweetheart,” your mother assured you.

“No, I think I would have,” Kylo quipped. Your mom didn’t seem to appreciate his joke and it was your turn to laugh at her expense.

At one point you all began to reminisce about Han, the stories about his adventures seemingly endless. You noticed that Kylo appeared to have a hard time listening to the bittersweet recollections without looking gloomy, so you’d comfort him by running your fingers through his hair or rubbing his shoulders. From the corner of your eye you noticed Leia looking both pleased and relieved, presumably because her son had someone to console him through difficult times.

The night came to a close as the fire died down, and your heart was full thinking about the events of the past few hours. Leia was bidding farewell to your parents as you and Kylo stood outside keeping each other warm by embracing one another. No words were exchanged as you two gently rocked from side to side, simply relishing the moment. You two reluctantly parted at the sound of the door opening with Leia stepping outside.

“I’ll pick you up in the morning, kid,” Kylo softly reminded you.

You were enamored by the way he was looking at you with that same soft gaze from before, the one that had been there since your first meeting all those weeks ago, and nodded with a little smile.

Kylo pressed a soft kiss to your lips before making his way to where his mother had been on the sidewalk, glancing back at you one last time to watch you wave goodbye before stepping into your house.

The week following Christmas had been exciting; you and Kylo hung out often, savoring your new relationship. Poe and Leo also happened to be throwing a party on New Year’s Eve, and you two were invited.

It was exciting to get to attend another party so soon, only this time as an actual couple. Getting ready for the party, you expected Kylo to look shocked again upon seeing you all dressed up, just as he had at his mother’s party and your parents’ dinner. What you weren’t expecting, however, was the hungry look in his eye when he saw how you looked as you stepped out of your apartment. You may have given into what he wanted with the way he couldn’t keep his hands off you, but alas, you two were already running late as is.

Later at the party, Poe pulled you off to the side at one point to catch up with you.

“You know, I didn’t have a chance to say this to you last week at Leia’s but I’m glad that you and Kylo finally got together.”

“Finally?”

“Yeah, it was getting kind of depressing going to those Christmas parties seeing him mope around and staring after you like some kind of puppy while you ignored him completely,” he laughed.

This new information piqued your interest. “Since when did he do that?”

“It hasn’t always been the case, maybe just the past few years. I think something finally clicked for him, you know? He’s a lot more human now than he was when we were still in high school.”

You huffed before clinking your glass against his. “I’ll drink to that.”

Poe continued, “But yeah, since he got his head out of his ass I think he realized you two would actually work out. I mean, you two know each other really well if you think about it.”

It dawned on you that if you looked past all the tension and hostility between you and Kylo growing up, he had technically been a big part of your upbringing.

You were still thinking over Poe’s words when Leo whisked him away to dance, and Kylo stepped in shortly after.

“Don’t go splitting up Leo and Dameron now.”

“Why? Are you jealous?” you taunted.

“No, Leo made the best roast I’ve ever had in my life, and if he and Poe were to split I’d never taste it again. I can’t risk that.”

You snorted in disbelief before deciding to take advantage of your newfound knowledge. “So, I guess Poe has been wanting us to get together for a while now. I wonder why that is?”

Kylo simply shrugged.

“Apparently you were making eyes at me these past couple Christmas parties,” you supplied with a smirk.

He tried to play dumb, but the way his eyes darted about gave him away. Eventually, Kylo succumbed under your scrutinizing gaze. “Fine,” he confessed. “Maybe a while ago I realized I liked you. And I wanted to talk to you for real, but you’d never give me the chance every time I wanted to approach you.”

His words from the day of the Christmas party rang in your mind: _“You never really spared me more than a moment of your time after we both moved out of the neighborhood.”_

“This year I realized that it would be another year of you not talking to me. Another year of you focusing all your attention on Dameron,” he continued. Your heart sank a little upon hearing his words. “So I got kind of desperate and decided to create a ruse where we’d have an excuse to hang out and you could see that I’m different. That I can be a good boyfriend.” His head hung low, slightly shameful of his confession.

You hummed, considering him for a moment before wrapping your arms around him and pressing a sweet kiss to his lips. “It  _was_  kind of desperate,” you say in a low voice, earning a laugh from him. “But I’m glad it meant that it got us talking,” you assured him.

He smiled, about to lean in for another kiss before Rey’s voice rang through the air. “Save it for midnight, you monster!” He glared at her as you ran your hand down his arm in reassurance, failing to hide your laughter. You grabbed his hand and led him away from the corner you two had tucked away into to rejoin the rest of the party. “Come on, let’s go get you some more roast,” you said to ease his grumbling.

The rest of the night was full of excitement in the growing anticipation of midnight. Drinks were distributed and upbeat music pumped through the speakers; at one point, an incredible karaoke duet went down between Finn and Poe, making you all scream in disbelief. The house became more packed as the night carried on, and ultimately it was time for the countdown to midnight. You were excited to have someone to kiss this New Year’s, and that you had a relationship that would only grow stronger in the year to come. As the countdown was getting closer to midnight, you found yourself being pushed closer to Kylo because of the amount of people gathered in the living room. When the clock struck 12, the sound of cheering had drowned out the moment Kylo’s lips met yours.

“Happy new year, kid,” he mumbled against your lips between kisses.

“Happy new year, baby.”

The tips of his ears turned red upon hearing the nickname thrown back at him, and you buried your face in his chest as he held you close.

It was going to be a good year.


End file.
